Looking to plant some small evergreen shrubs or dwarf trees in a small space along the wall of my home in my west facing garden. Hoping to mask my meter and just provide some year round curb appeal. The area I have is about 7.5 feet long by about 30 inches wide and hoping for height of about 4-4.5ft. I can extend the 30inch width if necessary but would prefer to keep it to a minimum. The soil here is pretty dry and it receives quite a bit of shade throughout the day. Minimal maintenance is preferred but I’m not opposed to some annual to biannual pruning and shearing. Thank you so much!
Hello and thanks for involving Toronto Master Gardeners in this project with so much potential .
You ask specifically about mid height low maintenance plant material for dry shade so we’ll make suggestions for that but please also consider :
• the narrow space you mention,is there enough room not to plant too close to your house in order to protect foundations from water ,aggressive roots and insects (that we welcome in other parts of the garden but not our house)
• I am having a hard time visualizing your layout, but given its narrowness, other possibilities might include a vine ( planted a safe distance from the foundation and trained along the wall ) might be suitable (Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is a native plant that is spectacular in the fall and likes sun or shade ) or a trellis supporting a shade loving climbing shrub like climbing hydrangea, (Hydrangea petiolaris) which, while deciduous, has wonderful bark and architectural shape that give winter interest.
• Is there enough space so that the area does not become a heat trap between say , your wall and some other object like , a fence ? Is there enough space to be able to read the meter and do maintenance of your wall ?
Here are some generic dry shade mid- height plant suggestions .
Canadian hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis) performs well in the shade, grows tall but lends itself to trimming .Try to find a dwarf or small one .
Yew (Taxus spp.) is a dense dry shade evergreen shrub available in many shapes ( consider Hicks yew , or pyramid yew) growing to the at least the 5 feet you are looking for , likely higher to about 8 feet .It can be pruned hard ( or not.. it accommodates a relaxed look as well as a geometrical hedge shape) and at any time of year .Yews tolerate a wide range of soils including poor soils though they do best with plenty of organic matter . They have few pests or diseases and are resistant to urban pollution . Hardy to Zone 4 so fully hard in Toronto where I am assuming you live . All parts of the plant are toxic.
Dwarf varieties of dark green spruce ( Picea spp.) , or even the popular native white cedar ( Thuja occidentalis ) (though it may need more sun than you describe ).
Any of these could disguise your meter but would you want a uniform 7.5 feet of the same shrub ? or would you want to break up the visual “block” of dark green , with a mixture of textures or colour ? Suggestions of other shrubs are : Snowberry ( Symphoricarpos albus ) grows to mid size fairly quickly , has beautiful small pink flowers in late summer and white berries that sustain birds all winter . Black elder ( Sambucus nigra) would add some summer time dark accents and another texture . Red Osier dogwood ( Cornus stolonifera ) loses its leaves in winter but its reddish-orange branches are spectacular .
Purple flowering raspberry (Rubus odoratus) likes shade , tolerates dry soil , has beautiful dark pink flowers this time of year , red berries later , peeling tan bark which provides winter interest . Vigorous , it is thicket forming .
For other suggestions for other dry shade plants, click on this link to one of our Gardening Guides
Hope this helps you to start on your way . Thank you for consulting us .
July 2, 2024